VP Cheney flubs Caucasus trip?

VP Cheney fails in Baku?

Here is what is happening:

 US Vice President Dick Cheney has begun a week-long tour of former Soviet republics in a show of support after Russia’s invasion of Georgia last month. He is going to the capitals that are the state that was just hit by Russia and two more that are regarded as possible next points of vulnerability, Kyiv and Baku. Cheney’s visit will afford him a firsthand view of Azerbaijani’s prominent role as an energy supplier, Georgia’s current crisis with Russia, and domestic political turmoil in Kyiv.

Want proof that Dick Cheney is irascible and curmudgeonly?

American Vice President Dick Cheney’s visit to the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, appeared to some Russian obervers to be have been unsuccessful for Washington, unlike his visit to Tbilisi. Cheney received a cool welcome and, according to Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, Azerbaijan’s President Ilkham Aliyev has implied that Baku is going to play a waiting game concerning the Nabucco gas pipeline, which is set to bypass Russia. Neither President Ilkham Aliyev nor the Prime Minister, Artur Rasizade, were there to greet Cheney at Baku airport. Instead, he was met by the country’s First Deputy PM and the Foreign Minister. The Kommersant newspaper reports that Cheney was very annoyed by the results of the meeting with President Aliyev and even refused to attend a ceremonial supper in his own honor.

But there is more:

The Wall Street Journal reported: “In private meetings, the Vice President, Dick Cheney, will also be sounding out Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and other officials about how the U.S. and its allies could help strengthen economic and military capabilities. In the past the U.S. has been careful not to go too far with military assistance in the region… Now that policy might be ripe for reconsideration, many experts say. An initial step could be to increase the number of U.S. military trainers in Georgia.”

And one more:

A U.S. Navy ship carrying humanitarian supplies arrived in Poti on Thursday. The flagship of the U.S. Navy’s Mediterranean fleet has arrived in the key Georgian port of Poti, where Russian troops have been patrolling since last month’s war. U.S. officials say the “Mount Whitney” is bringing humanitarian aid, but Russia has criticized the move, saying a sophisticated warship is unsuited for an aid mission.

Please note this is the flagship of the Sixth Fleet. And it went to Georgia for humanitarian aid…in a pig’s eye.

Condi Rice is too busy to deal with Russians, although she is the expert in Russian affairs and speaks Russian. Every European knows that she has no personal power or authority. So Dick Cheney went personally and he was rebuffed by Azerbaijan. The VP of the United States re-buffed by a puny country.

Can you say ‘cuban missile crisis’ in Georgia?